Bill Gates, Warren Buffett court India's richest

Indian billionaires, unlike their Chinese counterparts, flocked to meet Bill Gates and Warren Buffett at a closed-door reception Thursday in New Delhi, even though the topic of the meeting wasn’t about how to make (more) money but how to give it away. The second and third richest men on the planet who are on a high-profile visit to India this week, are known for their The Giving Pledge campaign which asks the wealthy to commit to giving away at least half of their fortune.

Discussing philanthropy with a group of India’s wealthiest individuals was the highlight of the American philanthropists' India tour. Although the guest list was not made public, around 50 people are said to have attended the much-talked about New Delhi event. The invitees included Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, real estate baron K.P.Singh, pharma entrepreneur K.Anji Reddy, vaccines-maker Cyrus Poonawalla, Rahul Bajaj, patriarch of the Bajaj Group, Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge and tech tycoons Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar.

“India has a remarkable tradition of giving..It’s clear there’s some great thinking going on about philanthropy,” said Gates in a statement released after what is believed to have been a lively sharing of views.

Some Indian billionaires who attended seemed to have come away impressed. “Bill Gates is truly a philanthropist not only in donating his wealth but in the time he spends on the causes he supports, " observed Cyrus Poonawalla founder of Serum Institute. “ There were no discussions about the Giving Pledge. It was more in the nature of how to improve philanthropy and a sharing of experiences, “ said Adi Godrej whose family's charitable trusts that fund schools and hospitals were started by his grandfather.

The exchange, billed as The Giving Discussion, was moderated by Rohini Nilekani, wife of Nandan Nilekani, the billionaire cofounder of software firm Infosys Technologies. Rohini, a notable philanthropist in her own right who has donated to causes as varied as education and water, told Forbes that it was a “good conversation and hopefully some good should come out of it. “

The pressure to give is building up on India’s wealthy who have seen their fortunes soar in recent years and turned the country into a billionaire hot-spot. This year the nation reported a record 55 billionaires with 2 Indians featuring in the top 10 of the world’s wealthiest. While older business families such as the Tatas and Birlas have a long-established tradition of charity, the more recent wealth creators have yet to open their purses in a big way.

But some have begun to do so with those who’ve made their fortunes in software services, leading the way. Outsourcing giant Wipro’s chairman Premji recently donated shares worth $2 billion to his charitable foundation, becoming among Asia’s top philanthropists. He shared the stage with Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates speaking about his philanthropic activities that are focussed on educating the underprivileged.

The rich in other sectors are now following suit. In a well-timed move on the eve of the philanthropy meet, billionaire G.M.Rao announced that he was transferring a part of his stake in his infrastructure flagship worth an estimated $340 million to his family’s charitable arm.

One notable Indian billionaire who chose to skip the Gates-Buffett meet: Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, ranked as the 9th richest person in the world with a fortune of $27 billion. Ambani and his wife Nita, who have drawn criticism for building a $1 billion, 27-story home for themselves in Mumbai, preferred to go to Ahmedabad to watch the World Cup Cricket quarter final match played between India and Australia.